Tourism, solution or problem?

 

Some time ago I posted this:

 Talking about tourism, all that glitters is not gold.

 

and it sounded a bit bizarre. Nowadays, nobody can deny that tourism, the way it has become, is a big problem to sort out because it has some negative consequences on the people who live in these places tourists invade at any time of the year.

 

Here are some articles for you to read and come to a conclusion or think about possible solutions:

• Third of people in Spain say local area has too many foreign tourists (The Guardian)
  

• 'We are in danger' - Spanish anti-tourism spills into winter season (BBC News)
  

• Protests over mass tourism could spread beyond Spain, says Unesco official (The Guardian)
  

• Spain: Thousands protest for affordable housing (DW)
  

 

 

 

 Here's my musical hint for today: This is the right time by Lisa Stansfield. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to check!

 

Here are some activities for you to do:

• Real Easy English:   Talking about FASHION  (BBC Learning English)
  

• Learning English from the News: Donald Trump wins US election  (BBC Learning English)

• English in a Minute: Verbs to use with BUSINESS  (BBC Learning English)

• A listening exercise for you to do:   Learning a new food culture  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

   

   

  
  

  

  
  

Road towards success in the new PAU (Selectivity exam).....

Use of English

A. Complete these sentences with the comparative of superiority or the superlative form of the adjectives given in brackets.

1.Travelling by car is (cheap) _______________________ than by train, but travelling by airplane is even (expensive) ________________________. What is (expensive) __________________ means of transport for you? And (cheap) _________________ ?

2. The exercise was (difficult) _________________ than we expected, but (easy) ___________________ than the one we did in the final exams in June.

3. German cars are (reliable) ________________ cars I have ever driven, but Japanese cars are (fast) ________________ than them.

4. The economic situation is not good. It could be (bad) _____________________, but you can find a (good) ____________________ job if you work abroad.

5. Granada is (far) ________________ from Salobreña than Itrabo.

6. Can you read this text (quietly) _________________ ? There are other people trying to study in the library.

7. Who is (wealthy) ___________________ person in the world? I don’t really know and I don’t really care as I am (concerned) ______________________ about (poor) __________________ people in our society.

8. For (far) _______________ information on the comparatives you can visit my page NOTES ON GRAMMATICAL ISSUES (2º Bach).

9. (crowded) ____________________ beach I’ve been to is the one in Torrenueva.

10. The journey takes (long) ________________ by car than by train.

 

B. When possible, rewrite the sentences in Exercise A using quantifiers such as: much, a lot, far, a bit, a little, slightly

 

C. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Ya no puedo esperar más tiempo.

2. La enfermedad de mi abuelo es mucho más grave de lo que los doctores pensaban.

3. Me temo que el problema es un poco más complicado de resolver de lo que piensa Alberto.

4. Ya no puedo andar más porque estoy cansadísimo.

5. Mi tío es ligeramente mayor que mi tía, aunque parezca mucho más joven.

6. Se está poniendo cada vez más difícil encontrar un trabajo bien pagado.

7. Me puse cada vez más nervioso cuando esperaba mi turno.

8. Cuanto más temprano nos levantemos, más pronto llegaremos a la cima.

9. Cuanto mayor nos hacemos, más sabios somos, como los búhos.

10. Cuanto más mercancías se vendan, más ricos se harán los propietarios de tiendas.

11. Mi hermano mayor me trajo un regalo de Dublín. Es el mismo CD que el tuyo.

12. Había menos gente en la clase que en el pasillo. No había tanta gente en clase como en el pasillo.

13. Mi primo mayor trabaja en el extranjero, lo cual es durísimo para él y su familia.

14. Sevilla es la ciudad española más calurosa que yo conozca.

15. Leer el blog de Alberto es interesantísimo porque hay muchas noticias sobre el mundo.

16. Prefiero The Hound of the Baskervilles a A Foreigner in Britain porque es mucho más emocionante.

 

D. Comparative of equality (___) & inferiority (....)

1. My father is not (tall) _______________________ as you, so he is (tall) ................................... than you.

2. The house cost .............................. than we paid for our previous one, but not (much) __________________ as they paid for that house by the beach.

3. I’ll be there (fast) _____________________ as I can, probably in ..................... than five minutes.

4. The city centre was not (crowded) _________________ as they had told us.

 

 

 

 

Quizz: Complete the expression (BBC Learning English)

Weather tracker: ‘Cold drop’ to cause heavy rain in Spain (The Guardian)

 

Floods in Spain: The impact of DANA explained | REUTERS

Nature Is Speaking – Julia Roberts is Mother Nature | Conservation International (CI)

 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"

Learn English with Emma Watson interview - Difficult words explained

 

 

What a long, winding, steep road!

 

 Life is such a long, winding road that sometimes becomes so steep that it is very hard to go on, but we have to keep struggling even if we feel really lonely with the loss of a dear colleague, teacher, relative, friend!! We will never forget you and your memory will push us forward.

 

 Here's my musical hint for today: The Long Winding Road by The Beatles. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along! 

 

 

 

Actually, learning English is a long, winding, steep road so hard to climb up...

Here are some activities for you to do:

• Business jargon:   Jargon for organising  (BBC Learning English)
  

• Learning English from the News: Pakistan's worst ever smog  (BBC Learning English)

• 

  English in a Minute: Verbs to use with NAME  (BBC Learning English)

• Georgie teaches us some  Phrasal verbs for climate change  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

   

   

Solutions to the exercises in the previous post

Use of English

9.1. up  9.2.  away   10.1. has been singing / has sung     10.2. became 

11. The new iPhone is so expensive that I decided not to buy it.
12. How long does it take her to have it ready?

13. Jason told her not to be late to his party the next day. 

14. “If only women GOT EQUAL opportunities in today’s world.”

 

 

The London to Edinburgh challenge: Episode 10: Look back (BBC Learning English)

Our Environment: Learn about climate change language with these programmes:

• What does 'net zero' mean?    

• Real Easy English: Talking about the environment   

• Listening exercise: Does climate change make you anxious?  
  

 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"

Learn English with Nicole Kidman - The perfect couple

 

 

English with Lucy: 600 English Words for Everyday Life | English Vocabulary Masterclass  

People calling out your name...

 

That is the time when you've reached the summit, but if they keep on doing that for years, that means that you've become a legend and you'll never die as you will stay in the people's hearts for ever.

As our Spanish writer Garcilaso de la Vega said, it is not just a matter of becoming a legend, but of not being forgotten by your kin and people around you when you pass away.

 

 Here's my musical hint for today: Calling out your name by Rich Mullins. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to check!

 

Here are some activities for you to do:

• Real Easy English:   Talking about music  (BBC Learning English) 
  

• Learning English from the News: Lost Maya city found in Mexico  (BBC Learning English)

• Job applications: Your first day  (BBC Learning English)

• A listening exercise for you to do:   Why you need a good night's sleep  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

   

   

Road towards success in the new PAU (Selectivity exam).....

Use of English

9. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE CORRECT OPTION:
9.1. “I waited for him for two hours but he didn’t turn…” up / over / down / off
9.2. “He passed… peacefully after a long illness.” over / back / down / away
 

10. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH A CORRECT FORM OF THE VERB IN BRACKETS:
10.1. “Ed Sheeran… since he was a little boy.” (sing)
10.2. “She… a sales manager three years ago.” (become)
 

11. REWRITE THE SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED: “The new iPhone is very expensive, so I
decided not to buy it.” The new iPhone is so …
 

12. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS: “It takes her less than two hours to have it ready.”
 

13. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO INDIRECT SPEECH: “Jason told her, ‘Don’t be late to my party tomorrow.’”
 

14. THERE ARE TWO MISTAKES IN THIS SENTENCE. FIND THE MISTAKES AND REWRITE THE SENTENCE CORRECTLY. 

“If only women get equals opportunities in today’s world.”

SOLUTIONS TO THE RELATIVE CLAUSES EXERCISE IN THE PREVIOUS POST

1. Lindsay is the eldest child who has has to look after the other children.

2. The King, who had a whisky everyday, lived for a long time.(king is written with a capital letter so it is considered a non-defining relative clause. If it hadn't, it would have been a defining one without commas)

3. He was reading the book whose characters were zombies.

4. Nowadays new kinds of sport, which seldom appear on television, attract more and more people.

5. John Bloom, whose novel..... film, died recently.

6. He used a sexist word whose meaning was pejorative for women.

7. He received an e-mail, whose content was spam.

8. That man, who has more.... a politician, talks a lot.

9. Michael, whose family....ago, has been attending Italian lessons.

10. Clark Kent worked for a newspaper that was called ‘The Daily Planet’.

11. Johnny Depp, whose portrait.... superb, is starring in Finding Neverland.

12. I could not move my car, which had no petrol.

13. Nikki, who is against the ban, sells cinema tickets.

14. Occidental observers are against the veiling of women in Arabia, which is ..... segregation.

15. Van Gogh, whose works.... millions, only sold one painting during his lifetime. 

16. Every year lots of tourists visit that old building, which is one of the major attractions in London.

17. John, who was a heavy smoker, has given up smoking.

18. The man, whose sister .... Liverpool, fell off his bike and was taken to hospital.

19. Jane Halifax, who does not... the proposal, is the president of the committee.

20. The dog whose name was Laika was sent into space in 1957.

21. This is the computer I bought last month.

22. MTV, whose influence..... rapidly, reaches millions of households.

23. Is this the place where they sell disks for the CD Rom?

24. The boy I sold a videgame to last week is very satisfied.

25. This is the computer game everyone is talking about.

26. Elisabeth, who Thomas invited to his premiere, is a prestigious writer. 

27. Those books, which I have been waiting for three months, are no longer published in England. (I have been waiting for these books since August)

28. Mars, which businessmen are investing their money in, is expecting visitors in the short term. (investment , shortly)

29. We interviewed that young man, who they hired, last week.

30. The actor the police was looking for was a criminal.

 

 

The London to Edinburgh challenge: Episode 9: Race to the castle (BBC Learning English)

LearnEnglish with Lucy... What is your English vocabulary level? Take this test.

Ask BBC Learning English: How can I speak English more fluently?

Latest News on the flash floods in Valencia >>>

• Trapped in cars and garages: Why Valencia floods proved so deadly (BBC News)

• Dead bodies found after torrential rain brings flash flooding to Spain (CNN News)

Our dear colleague and teacher Mª Luisa passed away last Saturday, 9th November. So sad!!  But remember, students and colleagues will always call out her name... and I'm sure she will hear us from up above.

Help yourself

Help yourself with some cake.... or perhaps some knowledge. What does this expression mean? It means someone provides you with food... or knowledge and you decide what to have and how much you want, like in a buffet.

It is up to you to decide which is the most suitable food for you and the amount you really need. You can't only have custard or apple pie, and eat loads of it. You would get ill.

 

 Tom Jones also advises you to help yourself with some love. Here's a version with the lyrics for you to check!

 

Here are some activities for you to do:

• Georgie teaches us about the Conditional Sentences:   Mixed Conditionals 2  (BBC Learning English) 
  

• BUSINESS JARGON: Jargon for meetings  (BBC Learning English)

• English in a Minute: Verbs to use with INCREASE  (BBC Learning English)

• A listening exercise for you to do:   Tech that refuses to die  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

   

   

Road towards success in the new PAU (Selectivity exam).....

 Here's an exercise on the RELATIVE CLAUSES (Insert the second sentences into the first ones):

1. Lindsay is the eldest child. She has to look after the other children.

2. The King lived for a long time. He had a whisky everyday.

3. He was reading a book. Its characters were zombies.

4. Nowadays new kinds of sport attract more and more people. They seldom appear on television.

5. John Bloom died recently. His novel “The French Affair” was made into a beautiful film.

6. He used a sexist word. Its meaning was pejorative for women.

7. He received an e-mail. Its content was spam.

8. That man talks a lot. He has more chances to become a politician.

9. Michael has been attending Italian lessons. His family moved to Rome five years ago.

10. Clark Kent worked for a newspaper. The newspaper was called ‘The Daily Planet’.

11. Johnny Depp is starring in Finding Neverland. His portrait of Captain Sparrow is superb.

12. I could not move my car. It had no petrol.

13. Nikki sells cinema tickets. She is against the ban.

14. Occidental observers are against the veiling of women in Arabia. The veiling is an example of sexual segregation.

15. Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime. His works are worth millions.

16. Lots of tourists visit that old building every year. It is one of the major attractions in London.

17. John has given up smoking. He was a heavy smoker.

18. The man fell off his bike and was taken to hospital. His sister is the new student from Liverpool.

19. Jane Halifax is the president of the committee. She does not support the proposal.

20. A dog was sent into space in 1957. Its name was Laika.

21. This is the computer. I bought it last month.

22. MTV reaches millions of households. Its influence is growing rapidly.

23. Is this the place? Do they sell disks for the CD Rom here?

24. The boy is very satisfied. I sold a video game to that boy last week.

25. This is the computer game. Everyone is talking about it.

26. Elisabeth is a prestigious writer. Thomas invited Elisabeth to his premiere.

27. Those books are no longer published in England. I have been waiting for those books three months. (REWRITE THIS SENTENCE)

28. Mars is expecting visitors in the short term. Businessmen are investing their money in Mars. (WHAT IS THE NOUN THAT COMES FROM THE VERB TO INVEST? TELL ME ANOTHER WAY TO SAY IN THE SHORT TERM)

29. We interviewed that young man last week. They hired that young man.

30. The actor was a criminal. The police was looking for the actor.

SOLUTIONS TO THE CONDITIONAL EXERCISE IN THE PREVIOUS POST

1. If only I had done my homework.        2. They wish they hadn't committed the crime.
3. I wish this kid would follow my advice / this kid weren't so stubborn.
4. I wish he would help / helped more at home.     5. If only he paid more attention in class.
6. If only he would stop smoking.      7. I wish I hadn't drunk so much last night.
8. He wishes he had read the small print.
9. Steve wishes he had proposed to Isabel at the right moment / when he could.
10. She wishes she had done what her mother had asked her.
11. I wish he wouldn't / would never belch at all after eating.
12. If only she had paid attention to my warnings.

 

 

 

The London to Edinburgh challenge: Episode 8: Directions (BBC Learning English)

 

Solutions to last post's Selectivity exam

2021. Cycling, the best mode of transport & Mo, the cat    

TEXT 1: CYCLING, THE BEST MODE OF TRANSPORT

1. d     2. a

3. TRUE (lines 5-6) “(They…) most people in low- and middle-income countries would be unable to participate in the economy and community, or access education (… services.)”
4. TRUE (lines 8-9) “For instance, it helps to reduce the risk of diabetes, some forms of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, depression, and it prevents obesity.”
5. FALSE (lines 11-12) “People who walk or cycle to work tend to be more satisfied, less stressed, more relaxed, and they experience greater freedom compared to people who drive their car to work.”
6. FALSE (line 14) “In short, compared to travelling by car or bus, cycling saves money, it is a cheap means of transport, (and scores well in terms of social impact of urban mobility.)”

7.1 worldwide (line 6)     7.2 benefit(s) (line 9)   8.1 obesity (line 9)    8.2 pollutant(s) (line 10)

TEXT 2: MO, THE CAT

9. c     10. b

11. FALSE (lines 1-2) “Mo –the cat– was staying in a cattery on the outskirts of Swansea (eight years ago, while his humans went on holiday).”
12. TRUE (lines 5-6) “However, they also knew there was a small chance they’d see him again.”
13. FALSE (line 10) “Last October, the Harris family received an unexpected call from a veterinary centre.” // (lines 10-11) “They said they’d found a cat matching Mo’s microchip and that he’d been living near where he got lost with an old lady who had passed away.”
14. TRUE (lines 12-13) “The black cat has a lot of catching up to do, as the family currently has three other cats.”

15.1  accept(ed)  (line 8)    15.2 return (line 2)     16.1 chance (line 6)   16.2 relieved (line 13)

17.1 meeting   17.2 haven't done    18.1 on     18.2 up

19. They / The jury / The judge gave the politicians accused of stealing long sentences. // They / The jury / The judge gave long sentences to the politicians accused of stealing.
20. Home may only be left for specific reasons. // Home may be left for specific reasons only.
21. How much (money) is he being paid for this project?
22. This castle, where/in which Queen Elizabeth spends her summer holidays, is the most visited tourist attraction in this city. // Queen Elizabeth spends her summer holidays in this castle, which is the most visited tourist attraction in this city.
23. You do not need to book / do not have to book / needn’t book a table at that restaurant because it is never full.
24. Subject + could(n’t)/would(n’t) + have + past participle // Subject + could(n’t)/would(n’t) + infinitive   Example: they wouldn't have sacked me from the company.
25. Tom is the best chess player in his class.
26. She has never used her mother’s car because it has the steering wheel on the right.
27. “Mum, don’t go into my room”, John said. // John told his mother: “Don’t go into my room”.
28. She will have her car repaired next Friday.

Quizzes: Complete the expression & Which is correct? (BBC Learning English)

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